Help me finish my Vow of Poverty + Ascetic Mage + Archmage Sorcerer!!!

[magicalmagicman]

1 monk/14 sorcerer/5 archmage

Race: Human

Alternate Class Features: Spell Shield OR Metamagic Specialist

Ability 25 Point Buy
STR: 14
DEX: 14
CON: 14
INT: 14
WIS: 8
CHA: 15

Skillpoints:
2 + 2(INT) + 1(HUMAN) + 1(Nymph's Kiss) = 6 skill points per level. They will all go to
Concentration
Spellcraft
Knowledge: Arcane
Knowledge: Planes - For planar binding
??? - I want to get Perform for roleplay fun. Ride is also good for riding planar bound stuff. For a power gamer though, what a good skill or 2 skills?

Feats: (underline means moveable, as in not timing dependent)
Flaws: Inattentive, Pathetic:Wisdom
1: Sacred Vow, Vow of Poverty, Eschew Materials, Spell Focus: Conjuration
3: Spell Focus: Illusion
6: Ascetic Mage
9: Skill Focus: Spellcraft
12: ???
15: ???
18: ???

Bonus Exalted Feats (NEED HELP HERE!!!):
1: Nymph's Kiss
2-20: No idea!

Archmage Stuff (Order undecided)
Arcane Reach
Mastery of Shaping
Mastery of Elements Not sure yet, haven't decided on a spell list. Might go save-or-die or dedicated BFC instead of blasting. This might be worth it just for acid fog. Might just grab another spell-like ability.
Spell-like Ability: Shapechange (get rid of focus)
Spell-like Ability: Contingency (get rid of focus)

Character Concept:
1. Early game be a monk with sorcerer buffs.
2. Summons + Polymorph + Buffs from levels 7-11
3. Lesser Planar Binding fun for levels 11-12. I'm thinking Ravid + Fabricate, or some creature + Polymorph
4. Planar Binding fun for levels 13-16. Limited Wish + Geas is a possibility for high charisma creatures.
5. Greater Planar Binding fun for levels 17-20

So to sum up, she'll be a completely society and equipment independent monk who buffs herself with spells (including polymorph) to fight, and later summons her own squadron of outsiders. I haven't decided on a spell list yet. Got most of it finished. I don't know whether to go save-or-die with heighten spell, AoE damage spells like delayed blast fireball with elemental mastery, battle field control exclusively, or some other thing with the few spell slots left.

Anyways, help me plan my feats!

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Be Chaotic Good (all about personal freedoms and personal responsibility for the betterment of everyone) and recycle all of those VoP feats through the Dark Chaos Feat Shuffle. Lucky for everyone, Abyssal Heritor feats and the Dark Chaos spells are [Chaotic] rather than [Evil], so an exalted character can make use of them with no trouble. Since you have VoP, trade the bulk of those bonus feats for incarnum feats, especially soulmelds, and use up all of those pesky chakras you have lying around.

You also might want to look into getting both Autohypnosis and Lucid Dreaming onto your skill list. Both are really nice.

[daremetoidareyo]

All of the exalted feats blow. Ask the DM if you can substitute them for something worthwhile. Even if they're luck feats or even skill tricks, you get more utility than you get out of exalted feats. Touch of golden ice, if the DC scaled would be ok. (Get DM permission)

Remember that Champions of Valor also has exalted feats. Many of which are better than BOED's.

Consider rocking out diplomacy seeing as how you get a ton of bonuses to it.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

You don't need anywhere near as many levels in sorcerer. There's no reason whatsoever to keep going sorcerer after you qualify for a prestige class, so get in and get out ASAP.

[daremetoidareyo]

You don't need anywhere near as many levels in sorcerer. There's no reason whatsoever to keep going sorcerer after you qualify for a prestige class, so get in and get out ASAP.

Agreed! Find a casting prestige class that has full BAB and loses no casting levels.

I don't do arcane casters, but I hear a lot about abjurant champion and incantatrix.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Incantatrix is the golden standard here. It's the best of the best, and it's not hard to enter. Since you are focused on summoning, you may not need the tenth-level ability very much. Monk 1/sorcerer 6/incantatrix 4/abjurant champion 5/archmage 4 is pretty good.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Given that you can't use equipment, how about taking soulcaster? A level in incarnate and you can progress your casting and your incarnum abilities, allowing you to have pseudo-equipment you can use instead of all the stuff you can't use anyway.

[magicalmagicman]

Be Chaotic Good (all about personal freedoms and personal responsibility for the betterment of everyone) and recycle all of those VoP feats through the Dark Chaos Feat Shuffle. Lucky for everyone, Abyssal Heritor feats and the Dark Chaos spells are [Chaotic] rather than [Evil], so an exalted character can make use of them with no trouble. Since you have VoP, trade the bulk of those bonus feats for incarnum feats, especially soulmelds, and use up all of those pesky chakras you have lying around.

You also might want to look into getting both Autohypnosis and Lucid Dreaming onto your skill list. Both are really nice.

Monks have to be lawful unfortunately so... :(


All of the exalted feats blow (except for Nymph's Kiss. I think this feat is AWESOME!!!). Ask the DM if you can substitute them for something worthwhile. Even if they're luck feats or even skill tricks, you get more utility than you get out of exalted feats. Touch of golden ice, if the DC scaled would be ok. (Get DM permission) .

Edit: Yeah Champions of Valor Exalted Feats blow too. My character doesn't qualify for any of them, and those she does she has to join some order.

Remember that Champions of Valor also has exalted feats. Many of which are better than BOED's.

Consider rocking out diplomacy seeing as how you get a ton of bonuses to it.

I will check Champions of Valor out. I agree, all the exalted feats blow, so I guess I'll just grab anything that makes me look cool or something. I might just ditch exalted feats so I can be a neutral character. Start out as Lawful good, then become whatever alignment I wish. My favorite is true neutral.


You don't need anywhere near as many levels in sorcerer. There's no reason whatsoever to keep going sorcerer after you qualify for a prestige class, so get in and get out ASAP.

This is a work in progress, and one reason I didn't go for a PrC was because of the massive feat+skill taxes they usually take, but seeing how as I have a lot of feat spots to spare, I guess I will consider a PrC like abjurant champion.


Incantatrix is the golden standard here. It's the best of the best, and it's not hard to enter. Since you are focused on summoning, you may not need the tenth-level ability very much. Monk 1/sorcerer 6/incantatrix 4/abjurant champion 5/archmage 4 is pretty good.

I don't like incantatrix solely because it's OP. But yeah I'll definitely look into abjurant champion


Given that you can't use equipment, how about taking soulcaster? A level in incarnate and you can progress your casting and your incarnum abilities, allowing you to have pseudo-equipment you can use instead of all the stuff you can't use anyway.

I don't know what meld-shaping is, but unless the meld-shaping class has planar binding I will probably not be interested.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Monks have to be lawful unfortunately so... :(Chaos monks are better than regular monks anyway.


This is a work in progress, and one reason I didn't go for a PrC was because of the massive feat+skill taxes they usually take, but seeing how as I have a lot of feat spots to spare, I guess I will consider a PrC like abjurant champion.Abjurant champion is pretty darned good.


I don't know what meld-shaping is, but unless the meld-shaping class has planar binding I will probably not be interested.Meldshaping lets you get a lot of the "must haves" that D&D requires, such as flight and mental protections, and is basically creating your own equipment out of helpful but otherwise inert soulstuff (called "incarnum"). You form positive energy around your body slots (crown, eyes/face, throat, shoulders, hands, feet, etc), and each slot has a number of different options to choose from that you can reshape every day as you desire. You then have what's called "essentia," which is basically points that you can swap around between your soulmelds every round as a swift action. One soulmeld, for instance, will give you +4 to a skill, and for every point of essentia you move into it, you gain an additional +2 stacking bonus until you move the essentia somewhere else. Think of Star Treck; the ship's systems are the soulmelds, and the power generated by the ship can be shunted to where they'll do the most good. ("Divert all power to the shields, Mr. Crusher!") Later on, you can "bind" the soulmelds to your body slots, which then become solid objects, which prevents you from using items on the slots, but binding gives some major benefits, such as the ability to fly, or dimension door a reduced distance at will, or telepathy, or any number of other effects, depending on the soulmeld you bind.

It's actually fairly simple in practice, but it's deciding what to bind each day that gets a bit complicated, as there are dozens of soulmelds, and you get access to all of your class's soulmelds (but not binds) at level 1. There are spreadsheets that help on that count, if you ever decide to delve into it.

I suggest it mainly because it takes the place of items, which you can't use, and you can use soulmelds to free up spells known that you can use for other things.

I'd also suggest a level of sandshaper, to give you lots more spells known for almost free.

[ATHATH]

I second dipping Incarnate.

There are handbooks out there if you want to learn more about the Incarnum system.